Primary Objective
by Cal
Summary: Sequel to 'End of the Line'. The brother of Cage, seeking vengeance, hires an assassin to kill Spike.
1. Ropen comes to town

Author's Notes: I started writing this fic in a moment of inspiration in my english class ****

Author's Notes: I started writing this fic in a moment of inspiration in my English class. Ok, the fact that it was a double period and I had *nothing* to do could have had something to do with it...

By the way, this is a sequel to End of the Line and _probably _won't make a whole lotta sense if you haven't read it. 

Also, to avoid confusion (and flames) this is set around mid 4th season. Spike does _not _love Buffy yet, and is still in the "skulk around in the shadows and only help when I'm paid" stage.

Dedicated to Pippa (Lil Miss Giggles) 'cause she rules. 

Primary Objective

Darkness enveloped the lone figure. Standing motionless, the only source of light was the long gleaming blade in it's hand. The figure smiled. 

The Hunt had begun.

* * *

__

3 weeks ago....

Douleur waited nervously. _This is a bad idea. _But there was no way to back out now. Fuelled by the anger of his brother's death, Douleur had searched the world for a legend. _Funny what vengeance is capable of. _The legend in question?

Gabriel Ropen, professional assassin.

Douleur knew the risk he was running by attempting to hire Ropen, but after his brother had been brutally impaled through the back he was damn well prepared for any consequences.

Suddenly, the bar door opened. 

Every individual present; humans, demons, turned, sensing trouble. Some of them began to brace themselves for a fight.

But there was no-one there.

Breathing an unnecessary sigh of relief, Douleur turned back to his drink.

There stood an enormous, terrifying presence.

"Ropen..." Douleur trailed off as Ropen grabbed his throat and shoved him violently against the wall.

"Who here is Douleur." Ropen demanded in a deep, low voice.

Douleur knew a show of weakness on his part would result in a pile of dust on the floor.

"I'm Douleur." He managed to say, voice wavering.

"Why have you dared to contact me, puny vampire?" 

Douleur swallowed, but pressed on.

"I need an assassin." 

He dug into his pocket for a small photo. Glancing around the bar, he saw the remaining patrons blatantly ignoring the scene. _Figures. In my place I'd do the same._

"What is the Target?" Ropen interrogated Douleur. Douleur held out the photograph, which Ropen snatched off him.

"He goes by the name of Spike. My Sire."

* * *

__

Present... 

Ever since hiring Ropen, Douleur had been questioning whether it had been the right move. He had been around long enough to know not to trust Ropen. But he also knew that there was no way he could kill Spike himself, and Ropen was the most likely candidate for the job. _Plus, _Douleur mused, _he has the best rates. _

He was aware that it had in fact been The Slayer who had murdered his brother, but Douleur knew that if he sent an assassin after her, she'd more than likely end up killing it. Plus, she was just doing her sworn duty. It was Spike who Douleur truly shamed, turning on his own kind. Besides, there was a pretty easy way of telling whether or not Ropen had betrayed him.

He'd be burning in Hell.

* * *

"Spike!" Buffy Summers slammed open the door to Spike's crypt. Spike was lying there, asleep. _Or so it would appear, _thought Buffy, knowing fine well what a convincing actor Spike could be. 

__

Maybe I should stop pretending, before she introduces my heart to that tree branch over there. Spike almost smiled. With a groan, he made a show of 'waking up', stretching, then blinking in 'shock' after seeing Buffy.

"Slayer? What're you doin' here?"

"Spike. I want you to patrol with me tonight."

Spike considered this, then burst out laughing.

"You, the Slayer, want me, a vampire....your mortal enemy...to...oh, this is the best part, to..._patrol _with you?!" Buffy frowned.

"Uh...yeah? Why is that so hard to believe?" 

Seeing that she was serious, Spike instantly stopped laughing. 

"I think what I last said just about covers it."

Buffy moved further toward the vampire. 

"Spike, vampire activity has been pretty high lately, and I don't want my friends at risk." Spike considered this.

"But since I'm not your friend, you don't really give much of a toss about putting _my_ life at risk, right?"

"Bingo." _At least she's honest._

Spike got up, and stood at the other side of the large stone casket he slept on. He was pretty sure he was going to agree to patrol with her, but that didn't mean he wouldn't get the fun of making Summers squirm a little. _God, I love being evil. _

"Say I do help you. What's in it for me?"

"I got a good deal for ya. How about: you help me, and you get to live. I don't understand what the big drama is, you helped me last month with Cage and Solarus."

"Lady knows how to bargain. And you do have a point, so, alright Slayer, much as it pains me, I'll help you."

"Good. I'd hate to get dust all over this....dusty crypt. God Spike, don't you clean?"

"Well yeah, sometimes I do get a brush...AHEM, anyway Slayer I know you won't stake me. You'd miss me too much." Spike flashed her a cocky grin.

"Spike, I would miss you as much as I would miss a _really_ annoying nuisance in my life. Oh, wait! Wouldn't that mean... why yes! I wouldn't miss you *AT ALL*. Bye now." 

And with that, she turned and flounced out the crypt.

* * *

Gabriel Ropen, professional assassin, travelled along the dimly lit street. After arriving in the town known as 'Sunnydale', he had identified the local places in which one could seek information. Ropen was now heading for his first destination of many, a bar for mixed species, called 'Willy's'. There he would find the location of his target, which would the lead to the target's annihilation. A simple strategy. 

After a short and uneventful journey, he found the bar. He noted the positions of any possible exits. 

Ropen entered the bar, drawing no attention to himself. He quickly located the bartender, but before approaching, made a mental note of the breed of each demon present, the positions of each in the room, and a calculation of the timing it would take for any of the demons inside to reach him. Satisfied with this, Ropen made his way over to the bartender. He noticed demons gazing at him in fear and awe, whereas some of the braver, dumber ones regarded him with pure contempt. 

"Willy." Ropen said in a deep voice. 

Willy looked scared, but mumbled, "Yeah...what'll it be?"

"I have no desire for any of your beverages, I merely seek information."

"They always do," Willy muttered. "I should turn this damn bar into a freakin' tourist centre." Ropen stared at him. Then, sensed a disturbance in the air, and instantly deduced he was being attacked. 

Moving faster than the Willy could follow, Ropen spun round and grabbed the long spike that was being directed at the back of his head. A Polgara demon._ This is gonna be nasty..._Willy thought to himself, before hastily scrambling behind the bar to cover. 

Ropen, still holding the spike, regarded it for a moment, puzzled. Then, without warning, broke it in half. He followed this with a headbutt to the demon, staggering it. Taking advantage of this, Ropen reached back and grabbed a long samurai sword strapped to his back. With one quick slice, he cleanly severed the demon in half through it's midsection. The top half fell messily to the floor. Ropen kicked the legs through a window. 

Another demon ran at Ropen, hoping to use it's weight to knock him over. Ropen swiftly dropped the sword, and grabbed an automatic shotgun from a belt on his waist, blowing a large gaping hole in the demon's stomach. It's lifeless corpse stayed upright for a second, before dropping loudly. The sound echoed around the walls of the bar.

There was a brief silence.

...Before every single demon in the bar made a break for the door, all tumbling over each other in their efforts to escape. Ropen let them go. They were of no concern to him.

He calmly strode over to the bar, and grabbed Willy from his hiding place on the floor. 

"P, please don't hurt me, I'm just an honest bartender trying to earn a living!" Willy stammered. 

"Cease." Ropen commanded. Willy obeyed. "I wish to know the location of the vampire known as Spike."

"Spike?" Willy repeated hastily. "Why I, I never heard of the guy." Ropen had no time for this vermin's pathetic sense of loyalty.

"You have a total of 3 seconds to tell me the whereabouts of Spike, before I remove your head." This seemed to work.

"Wait I'll tell ya!" Willy cried. "Spike stays in the cemetery! Large crypt." 

"Good. You have served your purpose." And with that, he flung Willy to the other side of the bar. Willy slid down the wall, unconscious. 

Roughly 10 minutes after Ropen had left, a figure wearing a leather trenchcoat entered the bar. He had just been in the process of lighting himself a cigarette. Spike looked around the bar. He took in the carnage. The cigarette fell from his mouth.

"What the bloody 'ell..."

Chapter Two coming soon.


	2. The Scooby gang are on the case!

Author's Notes: Hey all, after much thinking I decided to write Chapter 2 ****

Author's Notes: Hey all, after much thinking I decided to write Chapter 2. Hope it's not too cliched! 

Oh yeah, and, I forgot to mention this last time. I have left out the following characters, because I just can't write them:

Anya  
Riley

Tara.

****

Disclaimer: Will I do a disclaimer? Lessee....nah!

Dedicated, as always, to Pippa. Love ya.

Spike stared helplessly around Willy's bar. He slowly turned round in a circle, and all he could see was red. Blood and gore was splattered all over the walls, ceiling, floor...it was a massacre. Spike fought to contain the primal urges that he could feel rising within him; telling him that prey was near and he could feed. Not that Spike felt any moral objections to this, it just had no honour. 

Only scavengers fed from leftovers.

A weak cough snapped Spike's attention back to the situation at hand. Spike cocked his head, listening for a heartbeat. There! A faint sound coming from the other side of the room. Spike cautiously approached the broken body on the floor, and was surprised to see it was Willy. _Scum. They should know he's off limits. _Spike helped prop Willy up against the wall, only to see him wince.

"You alright, mate?" Spike asked the bartender.

"I.....I think my leg is broken." Willy managed to say through his pain.

"It'll heal. Mind telling me what the bloody hell just happened?"

Willy shook his head violently, his eyes filling with terror.

"No...NO! He'll kill me...kill me..." Willy was babbling now, in an insane frenzy of fear.

Spike dropped him. _He's in shock. _He began to walk away, knowing whatever information he could get out of the bartender would have to wait. He had almost reached the door, when...

"Spike...he's after you." 

Spike spun round in an instant, but Willy had slipped into unconsciousness. _Damn. _

* * *

"No way!" Xander Harris yelled. "Sean Connery was _way _the best Bond!"

"Nuh-uh!" countered Buffy. "Pierce Brosnan is much hotter!"

"I hope I'm not interrupting your very intellectual discussion." Willow grinned, regarding her two friends.

"No problemo Will, just livin' the easy life of Xander." Xander remarked, lounging in his usual fashion on the sofa. It was a great day, and the gang were all round at Giles' apartment, lazing around. 

Life was good.

The illusion was suddenly shattered as Giles' door was broken down by a rapidly moving Spike, barely covered with a smoking blanket. Buffy rolled her eyes.

"Spike, I know you agreed to go on patrol with me, but I didn't think you were _that _eager..." she said dryly.

"Why hello, Spike. How nice of you to grace us with your presence. Now would you mind telling us what the hell you're doing here?" Giles said flatly. 

"Alright Watcher, keep your hair on." Spike retorted.

"Not that I'm not glad to see you Spike...well, ok, I'm not....." Xander started, but was interrupted by Spike.

"I think something's after me."

There was a beat. The silence stretched until it was broken by Xander.

"Uhh...and I'm supposed to care....why?"

"Haven't you got a job to be at?" asked Spike, knowing fine well the teen was unemployed. "Oh, that's right. You haven't _got _one."

"Shut up, Dead Man Walking." dismissed Xander, trying to hide his wounded ego.

Giles sighed and began to clean his glasses. He seemed to have a permanent headache when Spike was around. He watched as Xander, Buffy and Spike all started arguing. Eventually the noise level just got to high, and Giles cried, 

"Enough! Now, Buffy, Xander, as annoying as Spike is, he has helped us in the past, and we at least owe it to him to hear him out. Spike, tell us why you're here. And quickly, please, I feel a migraine coming on."

Spike seemed amused, and looked as if he was going to offer a sarcastic reply, but thought better of it.

"Alright, here's what I know. I was goin' down to Willy's for a pint or two, before I called it a night-"

This received a snort from Buffy. Spike chose to ignore it.

"-and when I get in there, I find a bloodbath. I'm talkin' the real thing here, there was enough blood for a nest of vampires to live on for a week. Demon blood, granted, but we're not too picky."

Everyone - excluding Spike - exchanged slightly disgusted looks, before referring back to the more serious matter.

"Why would you come and tell us about this?" Buffy asked, suspicious.

"Because the bleedin' bartender –before he passed out - told me the lug who did this was after _me!"_

"I'm not exactly sure I follow, Spike, what do you want us to do about it?" asked Giles. 

Spike stopped pacing and looked at Giles, as if the answer was obvious.

"I want you to kill the bugger, that's what! Come on, you and your little....'Scoobies'...should be right on this! It's your bloody destiny, isn't it? You have to! Good o' mankind, and all that stuff." 

Spike finished his little speech, and turned to look at the four. They were all staring at him with identical expressions of disbelief. 

"Oh bloody hell, just find it and kill it!" and with that, Spike bounded out of the apartment.

"Well," Giles commented, breaking the silence, "I suppose we could do some research..."

* * *

Ropen headed towards his new destination; the Cemetery. After disposing of the Target, he would return to Douleur for whatever payment he wished. The only indecision Ropen faced was simple: whether to go for a quick, efficient kill, or to draw out the death, making it long and painful. Douleur had given him specific instructions to torture the Target, but after Ropen had held him 3 feet above the ground by his hair, he suddenly became very sure of the fact that Ropen could do as he pleased. 

Soon after reaching the Cemetery, Ropen easily located the current habitation of the Target. What had Douleur called it? Oh yes, a 'Crypt'. 

Ropen entered the crypt and immediately sensed it was occupied by a single being. Using night-vision to scan the figure in the darkness, it had an 100% match to the photo stored in his memory. 

The Target.

By the way the creature held itself, Ropen could see it was obviously a predator. A force to be reckoned with. At least, for others to reckon with. He instantly decided that, instead of killing it outright, he would give it a chance to defend itself in combat. He calculated it would last approximately 47 seconds. He at last let his presence be known.

"Spike. By the hand of Gabriel Ropen, you are to be exterminated."

Spike turned in a flash, trenchcoat swirling around him. He saw the face of his foe and knew it was his end. Death had entered his crypt. He uttered a single word.

"Ropen."

And then Ropen attacked.

Chapter 3 coming soon!


	3. To salvation in L.A.

Author's Notes: After a short period of having absolutely no idea what to do, I finally came across an idea (with Hex's help) ****

Author's Notes: After a short period of having absolutely no idea what to do, I finally came across an idea (with Hex's help)

Just another reminder, that this fic does not contain the characters Anya, Riley or Tara. I have nothing against these characters – apart from Riley – I just can't write them. By the way, later on I introduce the L.A. gang. If I get anything wrong, I apologise. This is my first time writing them (aside from humour fics, which doesn't count)

Dedicated to Pippa – love you.

And also to Hex, for helping me with ideas. 

Spike barely had a chance to blink before Ropen pummelled into him. He felt his body flying through the air to slam violently into the other end of the crypt. He lay broken against the wall, eyes searching desperately through the darkness for Ropen. Nothing. Everything was silent. No movement anywhere.

He started to drag himself to his feet when a sudden rush of wind blew past him and Ropen was suddenly there, standing before him. Ropen laughed. 

"You weak fool. I was obviously mistaken to consider you any sort of a warrior. See how quickly you have been defeated!"

Then in a flash Ropen bent down, and roughly threw Spike across the crypt. He was obviously playing with him, before moving in for the kill. 

But then Spike realised Ropen had made a slight miscalculation – he had thrown him through the crypt opening. He could make his escape! Using his remaining strength, he slammed the door of the crypt shut, hoping to buy himself precious time. He was aware Ropen could simply split the large stone in half in about 2 seconds flat, but in 2 seconds a vampire could cover about 10 metres in distance. _That gives me a good head start on that overgrown terminator._

Spike half ran, half stumbled as swiftly as he could with his injuries in the direction of Giles' apartment. 

They were his only chance.

* * *

Xander rubbed his neck. _I see researching ain't one of those things where practice makes perfect. _He still found sitting for hours on end looking up references in Giles' dusty old tomes as dull, boring and restless as ever. He, Buffy and Giles had been sitting around seemingly forever looking for information on what was after Spike. Willow was out of town for a few days with Tara, at some witch's convention thing. _Whatever._

He'd had enough. He stood up.

"Now guys, much as I have...enjoyed...spending my afternoon developing back cramps, I'd say we could call it a day. If we haven't found anything by now, we aren't gonna. And can we think rationally for a moment...it's _Spike!_ If some guy is wantin' to reunite him with his long lost cousin 'Mr. Stake' then who cares?!" 

He looked around the room, expecting to get rebuked for his outburst. To the utter astonishment of every person present, Giles closed his book.

"Much as it pains me to say, I do believe Xander has a point. Now perhaps had we been given a slightly more detailed description of our adversary, we would have had better results. But all we know is that _something_ tore apart a bar. We haven't the slightest idea of the species of the attacker."

The debate was cut short when there was a loud pounding on the door.

"Who's there?" Giles called out.

"It's me, you pillock! Open the bleedin' door!" Giles glanced at Buffy. She rolled her eyes but nodded. Giles strode forward and opened the door, and immediately Spike fell to the floor.

"Bl, bloody hell," he coughed. Buffy ran forward to help him up, and dragged him over to the couch. She took in his battered appearance.

"Mind explaining who dropped a bus on you?"

"We don't have much time. He'll be here any minute. You've got to listen to me very carefully, or we're all going to die."

Something in the sincerity of Spike's word got through to Buffy. Silently she nodded.

"The person who did this is an assassin. His name is Gabriel Ropen. He was the one who did a number on Willy's bar. I'm his Target. He won't stop till I'm dead, and he'll murder anyone who gets in his way."

"What? You mean to say you've led him to us?!" Xander yelled.

"Be quiet, whelp! We've got to get out of here. Now." Spike kept his voice calm and level, with an intensity Buffy hadn't seen before. She knew she should be mad at him for putting them all at risk, but there was no time - if this guy had Spike scared, then he was seriously dangerous.

"Giles, can we take your car?"

* * *

Ropen moved rapidly through the cemetery. He had under-estimated the Target, and his foolishness had allowed it to temporarily escape. No matter. He would soon re-acquire it, and this time he would be sure to go for an instant extermination. He was hunting the Target by it's minuscule imprints in the ground. Invisible to everybody else, Ropen had built in sensors capable of identifying the Target's unique tracks. 

He followed the Target's trail to a small building which Ropen sensed was inhabited by a...human male, of around 55% through it's life span. Unless this human male attempted to prevent Ropen from annihilating the Target, in which case it was 100% through it's life span. 

Ropen punched the door, smashing it into several pieces. He entered the building and immediately knew that it was empty. The Target had obviously departed with whoever had been present. Ropen was not used to having his assignments last so long. But, he did not feel pressured. They could not have travelled far in the short time period available. Ropen would track them down. 

And when he did, he would destroy them all.

* * *

"How ya doin' back there, Dead Man...barely-Walking?" Xander poked his head back at Spike, stretched out in the back of the car. 

"Shut your mouth, poof. I'd like to see you go up against Ropen and do any better." Spike grinned evilly at the image of Xander being ripped apart by Ropen. But the pain of his injuries - although healing rapidly – prevented him from staying too cheerful. _Bloody hell, I think my ribs are broken. _He grimaced.

"So Spike," Buffy changed the subject to avoid any Spike Vs. Xander verbal sparring. "What's that Rooper guy's story anyway?"

"Ropen. His name is Ropen."

Buffy ignored him. Spike sighed and carried on.

"I've heard of Ropen from way back. Never met him, but heard stories and seen pictures. He used to go about killing just about anything; humans, demons, vampires; for the highest bidder. Nobody exactly knew why he kept this up, I mean it's not like the guy needs to stick to legal ways of getting money. If he wanted to, he could probably be richer than the bloody Queen."

"It's because unlike some, Spike, Ropen has a sense of honour," Giles said quietly from where he was driving. "I've heard of him too, he believes to simply steal money would be shameful."

"And viciously murdering innocent human beings is just peachy in his book?!" Xander demanded.

"He loves the Hunt," Giles continued in a low, grim voice. "The adrenaline, the chase, the kill. It's all a game to him."

"I guess he hasn't heard of the wonders of Travel Scrabble then, huh?" Xander quipped.

"This is not time for jokes, Xander. Our lives are all in danger. We must find somewhere safe to stay while we research further on ways to defeat Ropen."

"Oh, I gotta way! Pound him into kitty litter!" Buffy suggested. Giles shook his head.

"Much as I respect your strength and skill Buffy, I don't think Ropen will be that easy to vanquish. This is going to require a lot."

"Where are we gonna go anyway?" asked Xander. "We've been driving for like half an hour now."

Spike looked at the boy. He had already figured it out, of course.

"Where else? L.A. Looks like I'm goin' to be paying me old Grand-Sire a visit."

* * *

At Angel Investigations, everything was quiet. The last case the group had had was a reporting of a large scaled monster down in the sewers – it had turned out to be someone's pet crocodile which had been flushed when it was younger. _Honestly. The pets people keep nowadays. _

The other members of the agency had left a few hours earlier, letting Angel have some time to quietly reflect. Or, "brood" as everyone else seemed to call it.

The peacefulness of the moment was lost when Angel heard a loud banging on the door. Getting up, Angel was shocked to find his visitor to be Buffy, along with Giles, Xander and..._Spike? _

Angel swiftly grabbed a stake from his pocket and dove at Spike, who seemed a little too out of it to put up much of a fight. Just as he was about to drive the stake home, he heard Buffy cry,

"No! Angel, don't kill him!" 

"Give me one good reason." Angel said darkly.

"He's helpless." 

Angel turned to his past love. Confusion shone on his face.

"What are you talking about? Spike's a killer." Buffy shook her head.

"Maybe before. The short version is: a military group called 'The Initiative' put a behaviour modification chip in his head, preventing him from hurting any living creatures. He can still hurt demons though, and he even helps us from time to time. I know I shouldn't care, and that I should stake him, but...I can't. Not like this."

Angel understood what she meant. He nodded. 

"Alright. Come in, guys. Spike...you too." 

Buffy gave Angel's hand a small squeeze and entered. The rest followed her, Spike giving Angel a quick nod in thanks. They assembled in the main office. 

"Not that I'm not glad to see you guys, but – mind telling me what's going on?" asked Angel. Buffy looked to Giles. 

"Ah, yes. It appears that someone has hired an assassin to kill Spike. Tell me Angel, do you know who Gabriel Ropen is?"

Angel's face, normally blank, showed dread upon hearing the name. 

"You might say that."

"Yes, quite. Ropen has already destroyed Willy's bar and possibly broken some of Spike's ribs. We barely managed to escape. I suppose what I'm trying to say is: we need somewhere safe to stay."

Angel nodded. "Of course, you guys can stay here as long as you need to." 

"Thank you." Buffy gave Angel a small smile.

"Yeah, we owe you one Big Guy." said Xander. 

"At least you didn't call me Dead Boy." Angel said, giving the boy a grin. The tension broken, Giles took control of the situation again.

"I've brought some text's with me, we need to find a way to beat Ropen." 

Everyone set about finding what they needed to know. It was going to be a long night.

Chapter 4 Coming Soon!


	4. All's well that ends well......

Author's Notes: Hey ****

Author's Notes: Hey. After finding no decent fics to read – sorry guys – I decided to try and finish this one. Again, I will remind readers that this fic does not contain the characters Riley, Anya or Tara. And Willow will be missing for the majority (if not all).

Dedicated, as always, to Pippa. Love you.

Plus Hex – cause she's cool.

"I've got something!"

Angel gave a short sigh of relief upon hearing Giles' words. It _had _been a long night, searching through Giles' many books of demons and folklore. 

The gang had been searching with renewed energy, having a purpose and some idea of what they were looking for. Angel, Spike and Giles had been driven yet further by their previous knowledge of the subject in question. Spike looked as relieved as Angel felt.

"Oh thank sweet-bloody-Jesus! I ought to be restin' in case Lug-nuts carts his arse back over 'ere instead a bleedin' _researching_." This last word was spoken with malice.

"Spike, might I remind you that we could have chosen to simply throw you out of my apartment. Now, back to what I've found."

Xander always found it funny when Giles dissed Spike. _Maybe it's because he can come up with more intellectual insults than "Dead Man Walking."_

"There are references in this text to an amulet of sorts, 'Vatus's Jewel'. I believe we can somehow use this to destroy Ropen."

At this point Angel interrupted. "Where exactly can we find this amulet?" 

"Ah, yes, well I do believe I have it somewhere in my apartment."

The others stared at him.

"Lemme get this straight, you want us to go back to Sunnydale, where _he _is?!" Xander cried, only slightly hysterical. Giles looked slightly sheepish.

"That is exactly what I propose."

Angel seemed to agree. 

"As long as you're here, you won't be safety isn't guaranteed. Ropen is ruthless - he will track you down. The best thing to do is to try and disable him."

"Disable?"Buffy repeated. "You make him sound like some kind of robot or something." Giles nodded in agreement.

"As far as we can tell, he is at least part machine. He has built in sensors which enable to him track, anticipate and exterminate Targets with ease. Not much is known about what can kill him – those who have tried have all perished. He is rather like Adam, in several aspects." Buffy shuddered at hearing the name.

"Oh yeah...Adam. I completely forgot about him. I got so wrapped up in this that I overlooked him. He may have murdered people and it's on my head."

"If it's any consolation, I believe Adam will lie low until this is over. I suspect he will have heard rumours of Ropen and, rather than face a possible risk, will simply wait. After all – he has forever." Giles tried to reassure the anxious Slayer. Spike snorted.

"I hope they do run into each other. Maybe they'll do us all the great favour of killing one another." 

"Wanna take bets? I got 5 dollars on Adam." Xander joked.

Giles took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes. Time to get organised.

"Right. Buffy – you and I will go back to Sunnydale. We have no direct dispute with Ropen as of yet." Angel was about to protest when Giles continued,

"Angel cannot accompany us because he has no way to avoid the daylight. This will be a long journey. Spike should stay here because he is the only one of us in immediate danger. Xander, you should also stay behind."

"No fair! Why do I get to miss out on all the gory-death fun?" Xander whined.

"-Because you are most vulnerable to Ropen and in a fight Buffy will be unable to protect you." Xander grudgingly accepted this.

It was at that point Buffy noticed a slight flaw in the plan.

"Uh...Giles? Does that mean we're leaving Spike, Angel and Xander alone together for several hours?"

Giles nodded.

"With weapons in the building?"

* * *

The drive back to Sunnydale had been uneventful and tiring. Giles pulled wearily up to his apartment. He turned back to Buffy.

"Remember, if you see Ropen – run. He is unlikely to attack humans unprovoked but if you get in his way he'll kill you." 

Buffy nodded.

Silently they approached the apartment. Giles took in the destroyed door, and held up three fingers to Buffy. He lowered one, then the second, and on the third they both swiftly entered. 

Buffy quickly checked in both directions. She sensed no demonic presence anywhere in the apartment. She gave the clear signal to Giles. He then quickly crossed the room to a bookcase. Bending down, Giles removed the panel from the bottom, to reveal a box. He slid the box out and held it out for Buffy to see.

Inside was a beautiful light blue emerald, with a dark purple centre. It glittered in the morning light. 

"Vatus's Jewel." she whispered. Giles seemed to share the same awe. 

"Yes...now let's only pray we can find some way to use it against Ropen." 

They began to head for the remnants of the door. When...

"That option has become unavailable."

Giles heard the voice from the other end of the room. Still facing the door, dread entered his voice.

"Gabriel Ropen..." he whispered, his voice quivering. "Created to be a hybrid of human and machine. The perfect Hunter. Unstoppable. The harbringer..of...death..." He slowly turned while saying the last part.

"Giles..." Buffy didn't like this. 

"Run." Giles spoke this single word in a low, intense voice. Buffy looked up at him and gasped at his eyes. They were flashing with feral yellow. 

She'd seen those eyes before. 

They belonged to vampires. 

She instantly realised that Giles was somehow using dark magick. She turned and started for the door, but suddenly there was a flash of movement. Ropen was there in front of her.

__

How the hell did he move so fast? That's impossible! 

"You will tell me where to find the vampire by the name of Spike. If you fail to tell me the location you will be destroyed."

* * *

The three sat silently in the office of Angel Investigations. 

Xander started to tap his fingers against the desk. 

Spike, meanwhile, had found a very interesting piece of wall to stare at.

The silence stretched.....

"So..." Xander broke the silence. "Anyone seen any good movies lately?"

* * *

"Spike?" Buffy stammered. "Who's Spike?" She put on what she hoped was an innocent looking expression and hoped Ropen was dumb enough to buy it.

Ropen, however, was not fooled.

"I know you have made contact with this creature, I sense your presence was with his at this location." Ropen grabbed Buffy by the neck and held her up. 

"Tell me now or I will cause decapitation to occur." Giles snapped out of his funk and ran at Ropen, helplessly trying to pry his arm off Buffy's neck.

"Unhand her this instant!"

"Silence!" Ropen backhanded Giles against the back of the sofa. Buffy struggled with her remaining oxygen, but her efforts were useless. Her vision began to swim and go black before Ropen's eye caught on something. This object which had interested Ropen so much caused him to seemingly forget Buffy, and he dropped her. Buffy and Giles both looked up to see Ropen holding Vatus's Jewel, examining it intently.

"Is this Vatus's Jewel?" Ropen asked them.

"Uh..yes, it is." Giles informed him, confused. Wasn't this Jewel supposed to somehow repel or destroy Ropen?

"Then at last my search is over!" Ropen cried, in a complete change of character.

Buffy approached him with caution.

"What search?"

Ropen turned to her. He closed his eyes for a few seconds.

"You...I sense great power from you, little one."

"Little one?! Hey, just because_ you're _like 7 feet tall...and that might be because I'm the Slayer, dumbass." Ropen seemed shocked.

"A Slayer...helping a vampire? How can this be?"

Buffy sighed.

"It's a long story." Ropen returned his attention to the amulet.

"All my time on this planet, I have been searching for but one thing: how to get home. Back to my dimension. This amulet is my key."

Giles stood up and walked over to Buffy. They were both unsure of where this was going.

"Although I could simply kill you and steal it, there is no honour to be gained in that act. So I must ask if you are willing to trade for this."

"Well, yes, I would be prepared to trade. You may keep Vatus's Jewel in exchange for the life of the vampire, Spike."

Ropen only considered this for a second.

"Done."

Giles saw no need to waste such an opportunity.

"And what's more, I want you to go back and kill whoever sent you on this task."

"Done. Is there anything else you wish in return?"

"Well, I suppose I could do with a new door..." 


	5. Epilogue

Author's Notes: So here we are guys – at the end ****

Author's Notes: So here we are guys – at the end. I hope you've all enjoyed reading this as much I enjoyed writing it. Who knows, I may even be convinced to do a sequel ;-) 

I guess by now you all know that this story does not feature Anya, Tara or Riley. 

Dedicated to Pippa. Love ya.

And also Hex, because she's a good friend.

Giles pulled up at Angel Investigations. Ropen had given his word that he would kill Douleur, and even been kind enough to replace all the objects in Giles' apartment that he had damaged. _That Ropen fellow is a rather decent chap. _

Buffy had been quite anxious during the drive back to L.A. After all, that had been about six hours they had left the guys together for. She shuddered to think about what could have happened in six hours. She hastily covered the distance to the doors, expecting the worst...

Nothing in the world could have prepared her what she saw.

__

Sitting there, at the table, was Spike, Xander and Angel, playing cards and drinking beer. 

"No way, man!" Xander yelled at Angel. "You are sooo cheating!"

"Nuh uh!" Angel argued, laughing. "I have three aces."

"If you two nancy boys would look closer you'd see that _I _have won. Beat that!" Spike slammed his cards down on the table for the other two to see. They both grudgingly agreed that Spike had won that round. 

Then, at the same time, each one seemed to sense that they were being watched. In perfect synchronisation the three men slowly looked up, to meet Buffy and Giles' disbelieving faces. 

Xander spoke first, looking sheepish.

"Uh...hey guys. You beat him?"

* * *

"Slayer! Behind you!" 

Buffy spun, to meet the face of a grinning vampire. With lightning fast reflexes she plunged a stake into it's heart. The vampire exploded into a pile of dust. She turned back to Spike.

"Thanks." 

Spike nodded. "Think we should call it a night?"

"Good idea. Boy, vamps sure seem to have depleted in number since Ropen." Buffy grinned. "It's nice to have it easy for a few weeks."

"Well if that's all you'll be needing in my service, I'll be off." Spike turned and began to walk away. 

"Same time tomorrow?" Buffy called after him.

Spike turned back, gave her a cocky grin, and vanished into the night.

Buffy began to head back home herself. Since Ropen had left town, vamp activity had been at an all time low. And much to the disbelief of the Scoobies, Spike had been helping them regularly. 

He even occasionally did it for free.

But all things considered, it was nice to have everything back to normal. As Buffy approached her house, she heard the phone ringing. Barely managing to get the phone before the caller gave up, Buffy answered breathlessly.

"Hello? Whoever this is, it better be good."

Giles voice travelled down the telephone.

"Why yes, Buffy. There is a matter of grave importance I must bring to your attention. You see, I was researching a summoning when..."

The End!


End file.
